PDHPE, or Personal Development, Health and Physical Education, teaches students about physical, mental, and emotional development, health issues they may face, and making healthy choices to live a happy life. It promotes physical activity through fun games but is not solely about sports. Students learn how to have an active lifestyle, develop movement skills, understand physical and emotional changes, and make responsible decisions around health, relationships, safety, and hygiene. The benefits of an active lifestyle include lower blood pressure, stress relief, better sleep, focus, weight management, energy, confidence, and spending time with friends and family.

1. (Images Clockwise: Kids Fun Setting Healthy Goals Tracking Sheet, 2014; Qualifications of Good
Children#2, n.d.; Outdoors Ultimate Playground, 2013)

2. What is PDHPE?
PDHPE or Personal Development, Health and
Physical Education is a subject that along with
promoting physical activity by playing fun games,
it looks at:
1) The various physical, mental and
emotional changes that we through on
our own and with our peers.
2) The issues that we may face whilst going
through those changes and how to make
healthy choices in order for us to live a
happy and healthy life
What is not PDHPE?
PDHPE is not solely about learning about
various sports such as softball, cricket, soccer
and netball, although many basic locomotor
and movement skills are taught in class.
(School 1, n.d.)
(Sport 1, n.d.)
(Children 5, n.d.)

3. Five Reasons For Why We Learn PDHPE
1 in 4 Australian children are found to be either
overweight or obese and this can lead to heart disease,
diabetes and other health problems in the future (ABS,
2013; CDC, 2011).
Only about half of the children between the ages of 9
and15 years eat the recommended daily amount of fruit
(Healthy Kids, 2014).
Bullying can affect self-esteem and it is found that 1 in 4
Year 4 to Year 9 Australian students report being bullied
at least once every fortnight (Bullying No Way, 2014).
Children experience the highest number of preventable
injuries than people of any other age group (ABS, 2007
cited by Kidsafe SA, 2010).
Mental health affects more and more children every year
and with more than 6000 kids calling the Kids Helpline
every week, there is an increasing need to learn ways to
manage everyday stress (Kids Helpline, 2012).
1
2
3
4
5
(Stress_323, 2011)
(Healthy Vs Unhealthy,
2013)
(Work One, n.d.)

4. What do we learn in PDHPE?
So in a nutshell it’s all about being active and having fun while learning about
making healthy choices to live a happy and healthy life!
1. How to have an active and balanced lifestyle by choosing
activities that can help us be active whilst having fun at the
same time.
2. To experiment with the different kinds of movement and
skills when doing gymnastics, dance and other kinds of sport.
3. How we grow physically, mentally and emotionally in our
lives and how these changes can affect our life as well as how to
confidently deal with them.
4. How to have positive and responsible relationships with
our friends, family and our local community.
5. How to make responsible health choices by understanding
how to deal with issues such as personal hygiene, drug use and
nutrition.
6. How to make choices that help you be safe wherever you are.
Adapted from Board of Studies, 2007
(Jump, 2011)
(Kids Playing, 2011)
(Work Three, n.d.)

5. The Benefits of an Active Lifestyle
Information Adapted from: Heart Foundation, 2014
1. Lowered blood pressure, cholesterol,
and reduce chances of heart attack
2. Can relieve stress and help you
sleep better
3. Improved focus at school
4. Helps maintain a healthy weight, good
posture, strong bones and muscles
6. Great way to spend time with your family
& friends as well as meet new friends!
5. Helps you feel more energetic,
confident, happy, calm
(Images Clockwise: Sport 3, n.d.; Children Page 5, n.d.;
School 3, n.d.; Moon 1,n.d.; Moving gif Image of a Typical
Human Heart Beating, n.d.)

6. See you at your next PDHPE lesson!
(Children Page 1, n.d.)